


be my everything and beyond

by thegrayness



Series: the touch of your hand [9]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Hiking, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Tentacles, like a million cheek kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23499919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegrayness/pseuds/thegrayness
Summary: The Hike, but David has tentacles.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Series: the touch of your hand [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1439239
Comments: 22
Kudos: 110





	be my everything and beyond

**Author's Note:**

> So this has kinda been in the back of my mind for a while, and I'm glad to get it done before 6x14. I tried to do the moment justice and just add in the bonus emotions and actions and mischief of the tentacles. 
> 
> Thanks to TINN for beta and Liz for validation and a bunch of support. Like a lot of hand-holding, way too much for a short fic like this so thanks x10000.
> 
> The title is from Beyond by Leon Bridges.

David was sweating and he did not care for it one bit. 

Patrick had been leading him up this mountain for, like, five hours, probably. His tentacles were retracted, mostly for safety as David didn’t want them to touch anything that could potentially hurt them. 

Also, Patrick made him carry the heaviest backpack of all time. 

So. Sweating.

His tentacles _were_ itching to come out, though, because there were definitely a lot of things for them to curiously pluck at and brush against: rocks and plants and dirt and branches. 

David didn’t want to be dealing with that, especially when he had to focus on _hiking up a mountain_ for a damn cheese snack. He unlocked his phone again to check for service.

There was no service. “Okay, there’s no service here,” he announced.

“David, put your phone down, you don’t need service. We have each other.” Patrick was crunching his way up the dirt path ahead of David, and David didn’t hate the view. 

He did hate the lack of cell service though. Did steps even count if you couldn’t track them?

“Well, if _you_ can track my eBay bids, then by all means,” he replied, picking his way carefully around a rock in the path. He glanced up at their route and sighed heavily. “Did we really need _two_ backpacks? I mean—what are you keeping in these things?” He looked skeptically at a poisonous-looking plant as they passed by, panting as Patrick explained something about ice packs. “Okay, well did _I_ get the ice pack one because this is _not_ light.” He tugged on the straps of his bag. 

“David, you said the backpack wasn’t going to be a problem, is it a problem because your tentacles are uncomfortable or are you just complaining because you hate this fun thing that I planned for us?”

David blinked and waved his hands in Patrick’s general direction. “My tentacles are fine—it’s just… it’s a long way to go for some _cheese_.” He bent his knees in emphasis.

“Then let’s turn around, David—” Patrick pushed past him to head back down the trail, “—’cause honestly I—ah!”

David jumped and his heart started hammering as he whirled around to see Patrick limping forward a few steps. Three tentacles came out to comfort David, reacting to the jump in his heart rate, and the neck tentacle reached out to Patrick, nearly propelling David forward. 

“What happened?” David asked, panicked. “Is it a bear trap?!” That was one of David’s biggest fears! He knew this would happen to him eventually. 

Patrick was hunched over. “No, it’s not a bear trap, David! I stepped on a branch and it went through my shoe.” 

David was in front of Patrick now, and he grabbed the leg that Patrick was holding up. Two tentacles decided to help as well, and between all of them they got Patrick over to a rock to sit down. 

Once Patrick was settled, his injured foot propped up on David’s bent knees where he was unfortunately also sitting on a disgusting forest rock, David let his other tentacles out. One gently poked and prodded the top of Patrick’s injured foot, over his shoe, and then made an attempt to wiggle its way up Patrick’s pant leg, snuggling in tight. David bit his lip, not sure that was going to help this fraught situation, but Patrick simply rolled his eyes. 

Not ideal, but David decided to leave it. 

“Okay, David I need you to pull it out.”

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” David said with a grimace, peeking over at the bottom of Patrick’s shoe. The neck tentacle drifted over to Patrick’s shoulder, slipping along to graze Patrick’s throat. 

“You think leaving it in is a better idea? I would do it myself but it needs to be pulled straight out—”

“Okay!” David exclaimed. A few other tentacles made an attempt to soothe Patrick, stroking his hair and shoulders and cheek. Patrick shrugged his shoulders to jostle them off.

“Just pull it out, David,” Patrick demanded, swatting at one of the tentacles near his face. He managed to make contact and the tentacle recoiled. David watched Patrick open his mouth, face falling in regret, but all eight tentacles had retracted faster than maybe they ever had.

Patrick put his face in his hands. “Just pull it straight out,” he mumbled. 

David squinted at Patrick’s shoe. “Eyes need to be open please!” Patrick said. 

“Okay,” David whispered, pressing a finger to Patrick’s lips. “Just, shh.” Patrick glared at him and then looked away, frustration clear in the set of his jaw and the hunch of his shoulders and the dip of his brow. 

David took a deep breath and pinched the ends of the branch between his thumb and forefinger on each hand and gave a gentle pull, sighing in relief as it came out cleanly. “Okay, is it bleeding?”

“I don’t know, David, my shoe is on,” Patrick scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Are the tentacles okay?” He said quietly as David took off his shoe and pulled up his sock. David didn’t really have an answer, but he assumed they’d be fine eventually. 

“It’s not bleeding, but I think we should put something on it because I do not trust where that stick has been.” He pointed at the offending object. “Which of these backpacks has the first aid kit in it?”

Patrick’s face fell even further. “I didn’t bring one.” He sounded heartbroken and David patted his shin gently before reaching into his pocket for his travel bottle of hand sanitizer.

“What’s that?” Patrick asked as David flipped the cap up. 

“It’s hand sanitizer, it can be used as a disinfectant. Do you think I’d come to a picnic without it?” He gave Patrick a skeptical look before getting a drop on his finger and dabbing it gently against the, frankly, minuscule wound.

He recapped the bottle and shoved it back in his pocket, leaving Patrick to fix his own sock and slip his shoe back on. “Let’s just go home, David, this whole day’s been a bust,” Patrick said when he was done, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting into the distance. 

David took a breath. “I’m sorry for not appreciating you enough today. You’ve packed two big backpacks full of food for us. If you wanna keep hiking, I think we should keep hiking.” 

“Ah, I don’t think so, but, thank you. I think I sort of… killed the romance. And the tentacles are mad at me. This is not how I expected this day to turn out.” Patrick’s voice was low and scratchy with emotion, and David wondered if Patrick was also very much looking forward to the cheese, by far the most romantic part of this hike.

David shook his head. “The tentacles are dramatic, Patrick, you know that. They’ll be fine soon. They’ll be back to rubbing your shoulders in no time,” David assured him, squeezing at said shoulders with his hands. 

Patrick gave a small smile and David leaned up to kiss his forehead. “You planned this beautiful day for us! And I think we should finish it.” Patrick still looked crestfallen, though, and David sat back down. “Patrick…” He didn’t know what else to say. Patrick rubbed his hand over his face again, sighing heavily. 

They sat for a few minutes, David gently stroking a hand over Patrick’s shoulder while Patrick stared forlornly out into the wooded area past the trail. David leaned up again and kissed Patrick’s cheek. “Let’s keep going, okay?”

David could tell Patrick was gearing up to protest again, so he tried to send out a tentacle, and one surprisingly slipped out, drifting towards Patrick’s arm.

Glancing at Patrick’s face, David tucked a smile into his cheek at the immensely pleased little grin he gave the extended appendage. David tried not to influence the tentacle, or the others that came out, as they fluttered cautiously around Patrick. 

Patrick reached out to one, holding his hand open and huffing out a small laugh as it nuzzled its tip into his palm. Another one stuffed itself into the pocket of Patrick’s hoodie, tugging gently before pulling back to pluck at the fabric at his shoulders. 

Eventually, they were all out, rubbing themselves against various parts of Patrick, up his arms and shoulders, around the back of his neck, sneaking up the cuff of his sweatpants again. Patrick showed each of them attention in turn, petting at the lengths of them, letting them twist around his fingers, laughing appropriately when they flicked at his hair because they thought it was a funny joke. A few tentatively pressed themselves against Patrick’s lips, silent but unsubtle requests for kisses and Patrick giggled his way through appeasing them. 

“Okay, if we’re all done here, I will need to eat at some point,” David said, standing and carefully maneuvering his backpack around and over his tentacles. He’d intended to retract them, but they were wholly preoccupied with making sure Patrick was okay, even though it was _clear_ that he was fine. He wasn’t even limping. 

So David donned the heavier bag again, definitely the heavier bag, and stepped next to Patrick. “Ready?” He asked, setting a hand on Patrick’s shoulder between tentacles. 

Patrick turned to him with a sunny smile, a complete 180 from ten minutes earlier when he was staring broodily into the wilderness. Once he noticed David’s backpack, though, he frowned. “David, are you ok holding that? Should—should I try to carry them both?”

David bit back a grin—Patrick skipped right over the obvious suggestion of _‘should you retract your tentacles?’_ He would rather carry two ( _heavy_ ) backpacks than continue the hike without them. “I should be okay,” David said, full-on grinning now, as he tightened the straps to bring the pack as high as he could.

“Okay, well—“ Patrick looked adorably torn. “Let me know if you need me to carry it.”

David leaned in to kiss his cheek, letting out a short laugh as a tentacle pressed against the same spot when he pulled back. “Okay, honey.”

*

“Patrick, I said I was fine, you didn’t have to carry both bags!” David exclaimed as a few tentacles made another attempt to knock the straps off Patrick’s shoulders. He’d strapped the second backpack onto his front, so he looked… ridiculous, lumbering up the trail. 

David pulled up to a stop behind him and his breath caught in his throat. He helped Patrick de-backpack before taking a few steps closer to the edge of the flat rock that jutted out over the mountain. 

The view from the clearing was gorgeous. He felt like he could see… forever. 

Acres and acres of land, green and lush, extending past the edge of the world, it seemed. He felt like he was staring into a painting, and the longer he stared, the more he felt like he was getting absorbed right into the landscape. 

A huge monster-bird swooped down into David’s line of vision and he took a quick step back before his tentacles decided to try and catch the thing. Fucking nature. 

“Well, this is nice,” David said as he turned back to where Patrick was sitting on a nearby rock to catch his breath. 

“I wouldn’t have brought you all the way up here if I didn’t think it’d be worth it,” he said, smiling shyly and wringing his hands slightly. David smiled back. “I know you a little bit better than that.”

David agreed and it was terrifying. Patrick _knew_ him. 

Before he could linger on that, he barreled on. “Okay, so let’s set up the picnic. You sit there and rest, you don’t wanna know what my mom will do if you show up to opening night and you can’t dance. Just tell me what to do.” A few tentacles plucked at the leaves of a nearby tree, prodding at some new things they’d never encountered before. 

David watched Patrick hesitate, rubbing his palms up and down his thighs. Did Patrick think David couldn’t set up a picnic? “I don’t know, David, I think it’s a little late for the picnic—”

“Late? Patrick, I definitely did not follow you up a mountain to _not_ eat cheese after. So just tell me what to do, and I’ll set it up!” A tentacle threw pieces of ripped leaves in Patrick’s direction, which did nothing except make both Patrick and David smile. 

Patrick looked at him, then, considering, still wringing his hands. He turned his gaze out to the view, over to the rest of their surroundings, and David thought he really was going to insist they go _back_ down the mountain without _any_ cheese. 

“Okay, fine,” he sighed, and David felt bad but also he was starving. Patrick continued, “In the red bag there’s a blanket.” The neck tentacle strained out to touch Patrick, but David moved over to their bags, bending down to tug a picnic-appropriate blanket out of the red-trimmed backpack. 

A few tentacles poked at the material, flicking the edges as David grabbed one end to spread it out over the terrain, pulling back a tentacle with his hand as it tried to pull at the blanket. “And, uh, in the second bag, there’s a bundle of crackers and cheese,” Patrick said softly, pointing to the other backpack.

The tentacles got excited, then, pulling and poking at every pocket on the bag as David tugged at a zipper to reveal—

“Uh— _excusez-moi_!” He said with a laugh, standing up and brandishing the bottle of bubbly he’d pulled from an interior compartment. 

“And champagne.” Patrick dipped his head in a nod, but didn’t seem nearly as excited as David (and the tentacles) at the prospect of _actual champagne_. Where did Patrick even _find_ this?

David set the bottle down. “And if you go into that front pocket, there’s actually something else,” Patrick said and then took a deep breath. David turned towards the pack and opened several pockets before finding the “front” one, which was really on the side, with something inside of it. 

His tentacles were shoving at his shoulders insistently, frantically tapping him on the back, and generally being annoying the whole time he was looking for the thing, so once he pulled out the velvety box—it was probably a fancy compass or something—from the pouch, he stood up and looked over his shoulder. “ _What?”_ He demanded, turning his whole body around. 

He let out a strangled gasp. There was Patrick, down on one knee, at the top of a mountain, and David was holding a soft box with rounded corners that maybe, just maybe, had something special in it. “What’s going on?” He laughed nervously, fidgeting with the box in his hands. 

Three tentacles were petting the small box, which was a feat in itself considering how bumbly they usually were, and two others were reaching out to Patrick. David was a bit too far away, so he took a step closer, and Patrick let out a shaky laugh as they slid around his shoulders and another snuck out to poke at his bent knee. 

“So I used to come on this hike a lot, when I first moved here and I was, uh, developing feelings for this guy I had just gotten into business with. And… I didn’t know what to do about it. Because I didn’t know if that guy had the same feelings… or if I’d ever be able to muster up the courage to let him know how I felt—”

David took a shaky breath and let it out in a half-sob, trying to smile at the way his tentacles were barely letting Patrick finish, fluttering around him, wrapping around his forearms. Patrick looked down at them, pausing his monologue to soothe them, giving them the attention they wanted. He pet along the two stroking his arm, clearing his throat against the emotion David could hear in his voice.

He looked up at David, eyes shining. “And now—” he cleared his throat again, “—here he is. The love of my life, standing in front of me.”

A tentacle poked at David’s cheek as he let out another sob and turned the box over in his hands. That same tentacle decided to yank the box out of David’s hands and thrust it at Patrick, who laughed and took it, petting along the length of the tentacle in thanks. He opened it and turned it to David. 

Four beautiful gold rings nestled in the box shone in the mid-morning sun, and David’s breath caught in his throat. 

“This—this just felt like the perfect place to ask you to marry me.”

A few tentacles made moves towards the rings but David pulled them back and took another step forward, taking the box from Patrick. “Are you sure?” He asked.

This—this meant a lifetime. David had no doubt that Patrick loved him, but this… forever was a long time and did Patrick really know what he was getting into? Having David forever?

David looked up and Patrick was standing now, he reached out for David's right hand, the one with his silver rings, and brought it up to press a kiss against the metal. “Easiest decision of my life,” he murmured. David hiccuped out another sob and pulled Patrick in for a messy kiss. 

He was crying and laughing and Patrick was crying and laughing, and the tentacles were wrapped all the way around Patrick, almost squishing them together. David’s hand, holding the ring box, was trapped between their bodies. He pulled back slightly, just a few inches, he wasn’t willing to be further apart than that, and snapped the box shut before throwing his arms around Patrick’s shoulders to hug him close. 

David felt Patrick press a kiss to his neck and smiled into his shoulder, adjusting his arms to try and pull him closer. They were as close as could be, and David didn’t want to let go. He was still crying a bit, sniffling into Patrick’s neck, pressing his lips to the sensitive skin of his throat. Patrick hummed against David’s neck and squeezed him tighter, too. 

The tentacles were still wrapped around Patrick—tight around his waist, draped around his shoulders, one cupping the back of his head. David was still letting out quiet sobs, and Patrick made a matching noise in his throat whenever one slipped out. 

After several minutes of the two of them swaying slightly, the tentacles became restless, flicking at both of their clothes. Patrick pulled away first, laughing brightly and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “That’s a yes?” He asked. He was still smiling, but his tone was so hopeful, as if any part of David would have said no to a life with Patrick. 

Patrick, who ordered him pizza, who told him when he was being ridiculous, who brought him a sweater even though it was five feet away, who saw his tentacles and wanted to _know_ them. Wanted to know _David_.

David nodded emphatically. 

“It’s a _big_ yes,” he breathed, hauling Patrick in again by the back of the neck for a tender press of lips. 

“I love you,” Patrick murmured, kissing at the corner of David’s mouth. 

“I love _you_ ,” David sighed, nuzzling against Patrick’s cheek. A tentacle came over to caress Patrick’s other cheek, and David caught it’s blinding color out of the corner of his eye. Hye leaned back with a gasp, pulling all of his tentacles closer to them. 

They were _gorgeous._

Shifting patterns of dazzling white and a golden yellow hue moved along the lengths of them. David wasn’t sure if it was the great natural lighting or not, but they were _sparkling_ on top of the mountain. 

Patrick stared at them in awe, holding a hand out so a few tentacles could wrap around his palm and up to his elbow. “David,” he said reverently. “I—they’re beautiful.”

They kind of were. 

Patrick turned his gaze to meet David’s. “ _You’re_ beautiful.”

*

The snack tentacle, as it were, was having the time of its life as David set out the cheese and crackers. It snagged a slice and frantically shoved it towards Patrick’s mouth. 

“Okay, okay,” Patrick mumbled. “I should have expected this,” he said as he chewed. 

David hummed in agreement, but he wasn’t really listening, he was admiring the four gold rings adorning his left hand, holding them up so they caught the sunlight. A tentacle came over to flutter around his hand, tapping the rings excitedly before zipping back over to Patrick, who was reclining now, his head propped up on one of the backpacks. David focused his attention back on his… _fiancé_.

Patrick had his eyes closed, and he was petting two tentacles resting on his torso, and his neck tentacle was nestled in a pile on his clavicle. David had been smiling for twenty minutes straight by now, and he fully anticipated something like cheek cramps to spring up any minute now. 

Downing the rest of his champagne out of the paper cups Patrick packed, David laid down and tucked in next to him. The rest of the tentacles settled around them, one squeezing between them for no reason, and David stifled a yawn. He was tired from hiking, but he felt full of so many emotions and he couldn’t stifle the next one. “Don’t let me fall asleep, I want to take engagement pictures in front of this view,” he muttered, rubbing his face against the material of Patrick’s hoodie. 

Patrick pressed a kiss to the top of his head and huffed out a laugh. “Okay, David.”


End file.
